Why Do I Only Bruise When I Sleep?

Question

I wake up with bruises on my body all the time and i can punch some places on my body and get nothing. But when i sleep sometimes I wake up with bruises in certain spots. I don't move much in my sleep and i don't have anything hard on my bed. My mattress is very soft and has a under comforter. Recently I woke up in the middle of the morning to my leg in pain (happens all the time I'm tall) and I started punching it (when i punch myself when I'm awake and it feels better and i don't get a bruise) I woke up laster that morning with a huge bruise on my leg where i punched it. I was shocked and don't understand as to why I keep bruising only when I'm asleep or half asleep i guess.

Yes i know i should see a doctor but I don't really have the money to pay to go see one right now...

Answer 1

This happens to me a lot as well.

What happens is that throughout the day, you may bump into something that seems like it will be nothing and for the time that you're awake, it isn't because your body is alert to the pain and may not necessarily feel the need to bruise but when you're asleep, the body is more relaxed, blood flow is slower and thinner and the body may remember that you bumped that part earlier in the day and that it really is wounded. Every bump creates some sort of pressure or trauma on the body and those will have a reaction eventually.

When me moved a few years ago, I went through an entire week of banging my body around in tight spaces, up and down stairs, into attics, dropping things on my feet, banging my knees into walls and furniture. You name it and I ran into it. But because I was active and awake and doing things, no bruises ever showed up. My body was alert to the situation and so didn't feel the need to tell me I had damaged myself. A few days after we'd finally finished moving in though, my entire body was covered in bruises. I looked like I'd just been beaten up. Seriously. I wasn't in any pain, as I'd already experienced the pain upon impact but the bruises were just then showing.

It's just the difference between being awake and alert to the pain and then being asleep and your body going through the process of healing itself and making sure you know you need to take it easy by showing you signs of pressure or pain.

You don't need to see a doctor unless they become swollen or blotchy-looking or you REALLY hurt yourself.

It could also be an iron deficiency because that slows the blood down and makes it harder for the body to heal.

Try adding more iron-based foods and more calcium-based foods to your diet. The iron will help your blood not to clot so much and help the bruises to heal faster and the calcium will make your body less penetrable to the pressures of banging into stuff!!  

Answer 2

You have low iron.